Good Day Minister

I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am writing this letter to first commend the hardwork that some of your police officers put in to make a difference in our communities. For the longest time we have had different negative opinions about the service offered by those who are in the Justice department and I pray that one day we will be in a position as a country when we will have zero negative reviews on police services and live a crime free country.

With that said, I do think there is room for improvement in how the innocent women and children's cases and attempt to rectify the various violations against them is dealt with.

I am a young woman who has been a victim of crime. Our home had been broken into and the call to the police to come and assist after the ordeal received no attention. Only days later did the police come to apologize and take a statement, by then it was too late and I will not get into the details of the trauma that one goes through when there's been an intruder in their home.

Yesterday again I had to text a neighbour to call the police as there were intruders in our yard who managed to get into our garage and vandalized our vehicle.
I was impressed at the prompt response received from the police, however, upon their arrival to the scene the culprits had fled, but we were very much convinced they were still nearby hiding.
My concerns regarding this incident is that:
- Though the police came, no formal statement was taken.
- The vehicle was vandalized and evidence of a break in and the pieces of window glass shattered everywhere was there but no finger prints were taken.
- No attempt to search around the neighbourhood was done to try and catch the doers of this unpleasant act.

The only thing they could say, is ask if we had the vehicle insured and gave their advice on the importance of having valuable items insured to avoid unnecessary loss.

In the early hours of today, the same culprits were back. Now being a woman who is concerned about her safety I contacted the police once again, the experience was very unpleasant. A lady was on the other side of the line and she had many questions to ask that I felt I was being interogated and she wanted to know why I was whispering and I had to repeat that I could not be loud and alert the intruders outside that I was on the phone calling the police.
She further asked "Why were the men in my yard, what are they doing?"
At this point I was just done with this phone call and shocked that one would be in a state of worry and risk and when reaching out for help, they would be interogated with questions such as the ones she was asking.

My plight to you is, when will we get to a place where there is 100 % confidence in our police and that we can trust them to do their job well enough to keep our streets free of crime and respond to calls for Help in a manner that restores confidence in the police service and assures us that we have a chance to live.

The rate at which women are killed and murdered like animals on a daily basis should be motivation enough for something drastic and more effective to be done but instead we are constantly being hunted and it seems like we cannot rely on the police to do anything.

What must one do to feel safe and be heard. How many of us women must die and be slaughtered like we amount to nothing before the service delivery changes to something we can trust and believe in.

Your attention to the cry of many women and many innocent civilians who are affected by this demon of crime is appreciated.

We need to see change Minister.
Something needs to change when it comes to the response the police give to emergency calls and steps taken once the police arrive on the scene.
Criminals run our communities and the police are relaxed (perhaps not all of them) but we are in a state of emergency and need the authorities to respond to our call for Help.

I pray you find it in your heart to place yourself in the same position as the many victims and women whose lives are constantly under threat and Hopefully the law will begin to speak and fight for its people instead of leaving them to fend for themselves and be persecuted when they defend themselves.

At this point, the law is not on our side as women.
At this point, our country is losing its dignity as the numbers of rape and murder continue to shock and traumatize us.

May this letter move you to do something you've never done before, the kind of move that will mark you as someone who not only led, but brought about change and left behind a legacy of Hope that we can be a better country, one that is safe for all and whose justice system is fair towards its people, especially the women and children.

God Bless you.